Author Archives: Hermann Observer

A Promise Is A Promise

May 9, 2022 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking Tags: , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Not.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz promised two months ago to deliver a substantial increase in defense spending. Where is that money now? Funny you should ask, since Mr. Scholz’s waffling on his signature pledge is a growing controversy in Berlin.

The “turning point” speech Mr. Scholz delivered on Feb. 27 included two promises: increase the annual military budget to at least 2% of GDP, in line with North Atlantic Treaty Organization targets, and create a one-time €100 billion ($105 billion) special fund for procurement. Crucially, the procurement fund would be exempt from the constitutional limit on government debt, although the regular military budget wouldn’t be…

Yet Mr. Scholz is struggling to say what he meant by his twin promises. His February speech neglected to specify whether he meant he’d spend 2% of GDP plus €100 billion, or whether he’d spend 2% of GDP including the €100 billion. The distinction matters.

Ordinary Schizophrenic Germans

May 8, 2022 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Helplessness, History Tags: , , , Leave a comment

And an ordinary psychopathic dictator. What could have possibly gone wrong with that mix?

What did ordinary Germans really think of Hitler? – Julia Boyd’s exceptional new book gets to the root of the matter by focusing exclusively on the inhabitants of one small village.

The village in question, Oberstdorf, is a postcard-perfect holiday resort high up in the Bavarian Alps…

Germany’s early victories were greeted with general rejoicing, but even as the war drew to a disastrous close there were fanatics whose faith in the Führer remained unshaken.

German Of The Day: Panzerhaubitzen

May 6, 2022 By in Hard Facts, Hi-tech, History Tags: , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

That means self-propelled howitzer.

Germany to send seven howitzers to Ukraine in further policy reversal – Germany will deliver seven self-propelled howitzers to Ukraine, Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht said on Friday, in a further reversal of a longtime policy not to send heavy weapons to war zones due to the country’s Nazi past.

The howitzer delivery, on top of five such artillery systems the Netherlands had already pledged, was another sign of Berlin heeding pressure at home and abroad for it to help Ukraine fend off a Russian invasion.

12 Monkeys I’ve Heard Of

May 5, 2022 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings, Hypocrisy Tags: , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

And seen (great flick). But 12 Germans? That movie title just doesn’t have enough punch.

By the way: Affe (monkey) in German is also used as an insult when calling someone an “idiot” or a “fool.”

12 Germans who got played by Putin – There’s no shortage of politicians, business leaders and intellectuals who have appeased Moscow over the years. Here are a few of them.

Russia’s war against Ukraine has thrust Germany’s establishment into the throes of a tortured process of introspection, self-doubt and recrimination.

After years of lecturing the West that a bit of Ostpolitik was all that was needed to keep Russia in check, Germany’s political, media and academic elites are now obsessing over a new question: How could we have been so wrong?

German Of The Day: Beleidigte Leberwurst

May 4, 2022 By in Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Hurt Feelings Tags: , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Literally: Insulted liverwurst. It means to be offended, to sulk, to be in a huff.

Like German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. He’s an insulted liverwurst and won’t visit Ukraine because Kyiv refused to invite his Parteifreund (fellow SPD party member) and Germany’s head of state, President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

German opposition leader visits Kyiv, Scholz refuses to go – Germany’s conservative opposition leader has traveled to Kyiv for meetings with Ukrainian officials including President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

German Of The Day: Bremser

May 3, 2022 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking Tags: , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

That means brakeman or somebody who drags his feet and won’t get with the plan.

Germany, a world-class Bremser, has now dropped its opposition to an EU ban on Russian oil because, well, 1) they want to improve their image of being a Bremser and 2) they know that this ban won’t happen anyway because Hungary and Slovakia, being even more dependent upon Russian oil than Germany is (which is saying a lot), are being even bigger Bremser than the German Bremser is and for the ban to take place, all 27 EU countries must agree to it.

Two senior ministers in Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government on Monday said Germany would be ready to back an immediate European Union ban on Russian oil imports, and that Europe’s biggest economy could weather shortages and price hikes.

German Of The Day: Knast

May 2, 2022 By in Hard Facts, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings Tags: , , , , , , Leave a comment

That means prison.

The imprisonment in London of the tennis legend Boris Becker for bankruptcy offences has triggered an outpouring of shock and disappointment in his native Germany, where he was once hailed as a national hero.

One former fan spoke for many when he said: “He made mistakes for which he’s rightly being punished. But maybe he’ll get up again one day, just like Becker, the tennis player, so often did.”

Violent Protests Against Violence Expected

May 1, 2022 By in Habitudes, Helplessness, Hideology, History Tags: , , , , , Leave a comment

Why? Because it’s May Day, that’s why. You know. Tradition and all that? Yawn.

Germany: Feminists and squatters kick off early May Day protests in Berlin – Thousands of people marched through the German capital to protest against violence against women ahead of May Day. The crowd dispersed following clashes with the police.